WSU Asian American and Pacific Islander Banquet Awards

PULLMAN, Wash. — A student, a faculty member, two mothers and a dad were honored
recently during the Washington State University Asian American and Pacific Islander banquet,
the final event of AAPI Month at WSU.
Awards went to:
— Outstanding Student of the Year, Madelsar Ngiraingas, a history major from Koror,
Republic of Palau. She is a 1992 graduate of Koror’s Mindzenty High School. The daughter of
Jackson Ngiraingas and Rmeriang Tmetuchl Tell of Peleliu and Koror, she is president of the
WSU Micronesian Student Association and a member of the university’s Association for Pacific
and Asian Women and the Asian Pacific American Student Coalition.
— Outstanding Faculty/Staff of the Year, Marian Sciachitano, an instructor in the WSU
Women’s Studies Program. In her fifth year at WSU, she teaches courses on women and film,
Asian Pacific American women writers, global feminism and feminist theory. She is adviser for
the WSU Association for Pacific and Asian Women.
— Mom of the Year, shared by Mounga Langi of Van Nuys, Calif., and Angie Eun Jo of
South Pasadena, Calif. Langi is the mother of student Mary Langi — a 1996 graduate of Notre
Dame High School, Sherman Oaks, Calif. — who graduates from WSU this summer with a degree
in political science with a double major in communication. Jo is the mother of Betty Jo — a 1994
graduate of South Pasadena, Calif., High School — a sociology and English major who graduated
from WSU on May 8. Betty Jo transferred to WSU from Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park,
Calif.
Co-Mother of the Year Angie Eun Jo, mother of Betty Jo, is a U.S. citizen who immigrated
from Korea. A former Bank of America employee, she owns and operates Los Angeles’ Academy
House of Hope, Inc., a hostel/dormitory for exchange students from Korea. An art student in
Korea, she has been studying art at Pasadena City College.
Co-Mother of the Year Mounga Langi is a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Tonga. A
paralegal, with a specialization in immigration casework, she was formerly with the State of
California Department of Motor Vehicles and is now a real estate agent.
— Dad of the Year Paulo Seifanga Langi, — father of Mary Langi and husband of Mounga
Langi, Co-Mom of the Year — is a Tonga native and retains his citizenship in the Polynesian
kingdom. One of the earliest Tongan immigrants to California, he owns a successful Los Angeles
area contracting firm, Pacific Islanders Construction, Van Nuys, Calif.
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